software tester represented by two eyes

Should a Software Tester Also Be a Developer?

The role of the software tester is changing. One major reason behind this change is the common assumption that products must make it to market fast. Consumers don’t want to wait for the next product release or latest feature update. To meet this demand, many companies place the role of the tester onto developers and vice versa. And, though development and testing certainly should work closely together, the individual roles should not be intermingled

Testers Must Have Independent Roles

Many companies believe that testers should take on more skills including coding and programming. While testers should be technical with their skillsets, they don’t need to become full-fledged programmers or developers.

Testers offer a unique perspective that developers and programmers don’t offer to the process.

The Roles Must Change

In the past, testers were only viewed as the people responsible for “catching bugs” but their role is more important than that. The true goal of a software tester is to ensure the product is stable not only before it’s released, but long after it’s distributed to the consuming public. To do this, testers must be part of the development process to ensure that vulnerabilities are never written into the code. This helps prevent stoppages later in the process.

A Software Tester With a Team Mentality

Testers must integrate with software developers as well as external teams. They need to take charge when it comes to communication across both internal and external teams – as well as potential customers. Testers must also become more familiar with the business factors that both affect them and the products.

Skilled testers are important. If your company doesn’t have testers with the necessary skills, consider hiring an outside team like iBeta QA to assist you.

Do you think testers and developers should share roles? Why or why not?